Black and White Gooey Butter Cake

If you grew up in the Southern part of the United States then you are probably familiar with gooey butter cake.

You might also know it from Paula Deen on The Food Network who has made a cottage industry out of the dish, going so far as to sell countless varieties of them on QVC. Growing up we never had gooey butter cake. My first experience with it was about ten years ago and I was hooked. The only thing I did not like was the cake mix base. I think you know what I am going to say next … I decided to make a gooey butter cake from scratch!

Since this is for the Top Chef Just Desserts Elimination Challenge … Challenge, and the challenge last week was a black and white dessert, I decided to make a black and white gooey butter cake. I went with a dark chocolate base, made with Dutch-processed cocoa for an extra dark color, and a white chocolate topping. This is a very rich dessert, so a little really goes a long way. It is best to let these chill thoroughly before cutting, but let these warm up to room temperature before serving so you get the full impact of the flavors.

Begin by preparing the base. In the bowl of a mixer combine the flour, cocoa, baking power, baking soda, salt, and sugar until well mixed.

Add the melted butter, both eggs, and vanilla and mix until a stiff dough forms. Turn the dough out into the prepared pan and press it so it covers the pan evenly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and evenly mixed. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Next add the vanilla, powdered sugar and melted white chocolate and mix until thoroughly combined.

Pour the topping over the base and spread it so it is even.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the top is browned and the center is just slightly jiggly. Cool at room temperature for one hour then chill in the refrigerator until very cold, at least 2 hours or overnight. Cut the cake into desired number of pieces and dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

Wow. That is unreal. I am constantly blow away by your recipes and pictures. Beautiful!

http://anniesdish.com Annie

This is the first time I’ve ever heard of gooey butter cake. Sounds good!

http://www.kitchycooking.com Jennifer

Oh my God, I think I gained 10 pounds just reading about your cake and drooling over the gorgeous pictures. I’m right there with ya on the making the cake from scratch. I myself am not a cake mix person either. Despite the weight gain, I may have to try this recipe.

Liz @ Blog is the New Black

Drooooool.

http://www.RecipeGirl.com/blog Lori @ RecipeGirl

oh MY!

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com maria

Ooooh! I love this one! I need a bite and now:)

http://thewannabechef.net Evan Thomas

Holy Yum! That looks awesome

http://livlifetoo.blogspot.com/ Kim – Liv Life

MMM!!! I am absolutely not familiar with it, but goodness… I think I want to be!! Gorgeous pics!

http://www.thespicedlife.com Laura

Oh holy moly this looks SO good!

http://www.dessertfortwo.com DessertForTwo

You’ve been teasing me on Twitter for days about this cake! I’m so happy you finally posted it! So for the photo, did you cut a circle out of the long cake? Or did you make a smaller one for photographing?

Gorgeous!

http://gracessweetlife.com Grace

This cake looks amazing! I love the way you plated the dessert. Did you also bake using molds or did you cut the pieces with a large circular cookie cutter? The cake looks incredibly dark and rich, magnificent!

http://www.evilshenanigans.com Kelly

For those who asked, I used a cookie cutter to cut the round piece for the photos. If well chilled it cuts like a dream!

http://www.cornerstudiomade.com Katie

Being from St Louis, I have had my fair share of GBC (and my mom’s gooey butter cookies!). I am definitely going to have to try this version.

http://lifesafeast.blogspot.com Jamie

Mmmmm – I have a favorite gooey chocolate cake recipe but I love your double layer! I am so going to try this recipe – the kids and I will scarf it down. It looks amazing!

http://lifesafeast.blogspot.com Jamie

I also have to say that I am always discouraged when I go looking for a recipe on the internet, find one only to see that it is made with boxed cake mix! Oy! Thanks for the fab recipe!

http://www.danielledeskins.blogspot.com Danielle

I cannot wait to try these! I always hated the cake mix part too and didn’t make them very often because of that. Now I have no excuse with your recipe!

http://bakingismyzen.blogspot.com Baking is my Zen

Wow!Love this. I’ll be posting Paula’s Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes recipe on my Blog very soon. And, yes, the one thing I mention in my blog is how a box cake mix is used…and I’m not a fan of that. But, the cake is wonderful! Thanks for your spin on it. Beautifully presented.

I’ve made other gooey butter cakes before and I wasn’t that impressed, however, this looks so much better! I’ll have to give them another try

RavieNomNoms

I have never heard of this or even seen a picture of it…but wow that just looks, sinful! Yikes, I feel like that would be such a bad news in my house…looks so yumilicious!

Dena

Hi! This looks awesome and I think I’ll make it for a dinner party this weekend. Question – do you bake the base first and then put the topping on it and bake it again? I know it sounds silly – but in your pix, the base looked baked before you put the topping on. Thanks!

http://www.evilshenanigans.com Kelly

Dena – No, you bake it all at once. The base is very thick, that is why it looks set up. Just follow the directions and you should be fine! Hope you enjoy it!

http://www.aspicyperspective.com Sommer @ A Spicy Perspective

What a beauty! This looks like something I’d order at a fine restaurant! Can’t wait to try it!

http://www.athoughtforfood.net Brian @ A Thought For Food

This cake is evil!!!! It’s just calling my name!!! Now all I need to do is go to the gym for a couple of weeks so I can make this.

http://www.bonappetithon.com Wendi @ Bon Appetit Hon

Kelly, that cake is calling to me. Please make it stop.

http://www.vinolucistyle.com Barbara | VinoLuciStyle

Ah, the memories; I grew up in a suburb of St. Louis where story has it the gooey butter cake originated. Think it was an uninspired mistake that just turned out good! My dad bought one at a local bakery every Sunday after church.

My only confession on those Sundays? I tried to steal as much of that gooey topping as possible! And now I’ll have to confess after this upcoming Sunday too cause I’m dying to try your black and white version. YUM? YEP!

Fiona

What brand of white chocolate chips did you use? I can’t seem to find white chocolate chips at my local grocery stores, only “white chips” or “vanilla chips.”

http://breadplusbutter.blogspot.com jenn (bread + butter)

Oh wow!! Why did I have to look? That cake looks so devilishly tempting right now.

http://www.evilshenanigans.com Kelly

Fiona – I used Ghirardelli white chocolate chips, but you could easily use a bar of white chocolate. Just chop it up!

This looks deadly and divine! I can imagine how intense the chocolate and cream cheese combination is. YUM! I love your site.

http://www.mykitchenaddiction.com Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction

I have never heard of this gooey butter cake before, but I definitely like the idea. I’ll definitely be giving this one a try!

http://thechocolatecult.blogspot.com/ The Chocolate Priestess

Sounds very decadent though I must confess I’d use the mix base myself.

http://www.zomppa.com Belinda @zomppa

A stunning cake! The word butter is all you really need to perk my ears.

http://nommables.com dean

wow. that’s a good looking dessert. congrats

http://gracessweetlife.com Grace

Congratulations on Top 9, I knew you would rise to the top with this beautiful dessert!

http://www.thesimpleskillet.com The Simple Skillet

Wow, it’s only breakfast time right now, but I definitely want some of this. Beautiful photo!

http://mytastyhandbook.com Adelian

This has guilt written all over… so worth it though…

http://joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com Joy

That looks great. I may try this for the holidays.

http://mybflikeitsoimbg.blogspot.com Peggy

I’ve only ever had one gooey butter cake ever, and it was a Paula Deen version and I wasn’t too impressed, but this… this I’m excited about trying! And great job on advancing to the next round of PFB! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

http://www.othersideoffifty.com/ Mags@OtherSideOf50

This looks like an extremely dangerous recipe to have in my possession. I’m going to pretend I never saw it….LOL

It looks absolutely divine!

http://moderncomfortfood.com Barbara @ Modern Comfort Food

I’m a native Southerner, but I must be completely out of it since I’ve never heard of Paula Deen’s version of gooey butter cake, or anyone else’s, for that matter. But I’m most definitely captivated by your recipe here. Simply brilliant, and a must-make recipe.

Helena

I made this cake immediately after I saw it and it was definetely one of the worst-looking and messiest cakes I ever made, but it was SOO good!

I made it this afternoon – oh my, it is so yummy! The combination of dark chocolate brownies and white chocolate cream cheese topping is heavenly! My husband asked me to get rid of it before he eats the whole thing Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Lori

The fact that a cake mix was NOT used in this recipe was exactly what I was looking for when I decided to make a version of the gooey butter cake for my mom for Mother’s Day, and your recipe was absolutely perfect–easy to make and tasted amazing–the ideal combination! Thank you so much for sharing… my mom loved it and asked me to share the recipe.

I found this on pinterest and had to make it right away. Holy cow! I think this is one of the most delicious cakes I’ve every had in my life! It is rich and perfectly sweet. I followed the recipe with one exception…I substituted semi-sweet chocolate chips for the white chocolate chips (I am a true choco-holic!). It worked out great and tastes way better than I imagined! I will definitely be making this again and passing this recipe on to family and friends!

Rob

The picture of the base looks like it was cooked before the top layer went on. Mines just come out of the over I stuck to the recipe and cooked both layers together. Had a quick taste while it cools and yum – not bad as its the first thing I’ve cooked in 5 years – much better than the supermarket cakes lol. Thanks for the recipe.